In my opinion, a main purpose of a final examination in a semester-long course is to provide you with a chance to take stock in the work you've done in the class over the semester and apply new understandings and skills to the topic at hand, i.e. American Public Education. The syllabus for this course begins with a summary of the course's scope:
"The goal of this course is for students to develop and share an understanding of education in American society, to begin to analyze educational principles and practices, and to apply these principles to understand and form reasoned opinions about current educational reform efforts. ...The persistent inequities in American education are a major theme of the course, and the similarities and differences among Rhode Island schools are examined and discussed."
We all have our opinions about school which are strongly influenced by our past experiences. In this examination, you are expected to move past your deeply held beliefs about education to include knowledge from reputable sources, including our course readings, information about RI Schools gleaned from reputable sources, and your own (and your classmates') scholarly research from our final project.
Exam Structure
In this year's exam, you will be given several feature/opinion/editorial articles from reputable sources, of which you can choose one. Your task will be to study the article's argument, explain the relevant educational issues,and express your reasoned reaction by answering some guiding questions about situation described in the article using sources developed in the course.
1. Be sure your essay has an introduction. Introduction should include:
A "hook" (a statement that engages the reader in the problem described in the article)
An indication of your choice of article.
Thesis statement
Roadmap (A "preview" sentence that previews the topics discussed in the essay)
2. An explanation of this issue. Pretend you are explaining the issue to your parent(s). What do you know about the issue that is not 'common sense'?
3. A brief summary of the argument in the article/report/blog entry that you have choose.
4. Your reasoned response/reaction to the main points or argument of the article. Your reasoning should construct an argument based on relevant sources from the course. These sources include as many of the following as possible:
Course readings: Bain, Suskind, Mathews, Ravitch, Rizga, Game of School chapter, etc.
Our reading note summaries from the sources listed above.
Articles that you have collected in your LRKB, including our shared notebook
Your (and your classmate's) own products: Academic autobiographies, School Reports, Educational Issues team and individual pages, etc.
5. A conclusion
A summary of your paper
Something for the reader to ponder moving forward.
6. A bibliography.
At least seven references.
All citations should be in APA style. Note: Zotero can be used to add citations to a Google Document. Zotero will add the inline citations as well if you hold the "option" key down while you drag the zotero record into your text.
Note: Additional questions that must be addressed will be added on exam day. Expect the unexpected!
Once you have written your response, you will "trade papers" with your peer editor by sharing your google document with him or her. They can add comments, edits, etc to your draft. You can use their edits to finalize your paper.
Prepare an outline or other representation of your essay before class.
Attend exam period: 8:00 am - Wednesday, Dec 16 - Regular Classroom
Think about the "monkey wrench" that Dr. Fogleman introduces to your beautiful outline
Write for approximately an 75 minutes.
Exchange papers for peer editing. All comments must be written. There is no talking allowed during this exam.
Revise your essay. You will have until the end of the exam period.
Dr. Fogleman, I can't help it, I'm still a strategic learner! How do I get an A on this exam?
Follow the instructions above.
Do not rely on your previous experience. This is not a high school English BS-your-way-through assignment. Instead, this is a show-Fogleman-my brilliance opportunity. Show Dr. F. that you have read and thought about our class assignments. Spend some time before the exam to synthesize across our readings to react to your article.
Let your inner writer shine. Be courageous. Go out on a limb, but with reason. Don't bore your reader.
Use topic sentences and rules for writing essays unless they violate some sort of artistic code. If you are following your own code, write well.
Introduction
In my opinion, a main purpose of a final examination in a semester-long course is to provide you with a chance to take stock in the work you've done in the class over the semester and apply new understandings and skills to the topic at hand, i.e. American Public Education. The syllabus for this course begins with a summary of the course's scope:"The goal of this course is for students to develop and share an understanding of education in American society, to begin to analyze educational principles and practices, and to apply these principles to understand and form reasoned opinions about current educational reform efforts. ...The persistent inequities in American education are a major theme of the course, and the similarities and differences among Rhode Island schools are examined and discussed."
We all have our opinions about school which are strongly influenced by our past experiences. In this examination, you are expected to move past your deeply held beliefs about education to include knowledge from reputable sources, including our course readings, information about RI Schools gleaned from reputable sources, and your own (and your classmates') scholarly research from our final project.
Exam Structure
In this year's exam, you will be given several feature/opinion/editorial articles from reputable sources, of which you can choose one. Your task will be to study the article's argument, explain the relevant educational issues,and express your reasoned reaction by answering some guiding questions about situation described in the article using sources developed in the course.
1. Be sure your essay has an introduction. Introduction should include:
2. An explanation of this issue. Pretend you are explaining the issue to your parent(s). What do you know about the issue that is not 'common sense'?
3. A brief summary of the argument in the article/report/blog entry that you have choose.
4. Your reasoned response/reaction to the main points or argument of the article. Your reasoning should construct an argument based on relevant sources from the course. These sources include as many of the following as possible:
- Course readings: Bain, Suskind, Mathews, Ravitch, Rizga, Game of School chapter, etc.
- Our reading note summaries from the sources listed above.
- Articles that you have collected in your LRKB, including our shared notebook
- Your (and your classmate's) own products: Academic autobiographies, School Reports, Educational Issues team and individual pages, etc.
5. A conclusion- A summary of your paper
- Something for the reader to ponder moving forward.
6. A bibliography.Note: Additional questions that must be addressed will be added on exam day. Expect the unexpected!
Once you have written your response, you will "trade papers" with your peer editor by sharing your google document with him or her. They can add comments, edits, etc to your draft. You can use their edits to finalize your paper.
Example Exam
The Exam Process
- Choose a Peer Editor - Sign up as pair w/ Dr. Fogleman
- Choose ONE article in the linked folder analyze. NOTE: Peer editors CANNOT write about the same article.
- LINK TO FOLDER WITH ARTICLES
Peer Editing Pairs: (Please group yourselves)Dr. Fogleman, I can't help it, I'm still a strategic learner! How do I get an A on this exam?